This is the entertainment industry! No tantrums or shouting allowed!

"You dare question me? Do you know who I am? Go ask around, I'm the boss of this street!"

Gu Yan spoke arrogantly while desperately trying to wink at Wen Yao.

Sister, let me show off my holy armor and cups in front of everyone just this once!

In Wen Yao's eyes, Gu Yan looked exactly like the returning War God Dragon King from the short drama, with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes, full of provocation.

My fist hardened!

But just then, a small flying insect got into her eye. She raised her hand and rubbed it, and her red, doe-like eyes immediately became watery.

"Gu Yan, you're so annoying!"

The girl's fierce tone seemed to be viewed through a filter by her two older brothers.

Gu Yan was slightly flustered: "Why are you crying? Hey, don't force me to kneel down and beg you to stop crying!"

Wen Yao rubbed her eyes for a long time, but the worms didn't come out. Instead, her eyes hurt and she started to shed more and more tears.

"I'm not crying!"

But the two brothers, with their filters layered eight hundred times thick, only saw their sister as pitiful and saying one thing but meaning another...

Gu Yan knelt down on one knee before Wen Yao with a "plop"!

Joshua was deeply shocked:

"Your China truly lives up to its reputation as a land of etiquette; you even kneel before your victims before robbing them...?"

Gu Yan: "What do you know, you foreign devil? A real man—"

Joshua thought he was being tested on his Chinese: "Standing tall and upright?"

Gu Yan said with an upright expression: "Be flexible and adaptable!"

Joshua: "..."

"Sister, I'll call you sister, okay?" Gu Yan coaxed, glaring at Joshua. "What are you standing there for? Call me sister!"

Joshua: ? I didn't do anything to her!

[Hilarious! I never expected you to be such a coward, Yanzi!]

[My little sister is almost crying, who can bear this! I'd kneel down too!]

[Joseph: Reversing the Heavenly Order! Truly reversing the Heavenly Order!]

Who invented this little inkstone? He can be really annoying when he's being sarcastic, but he's also really funny when he's trying to coax his little sister.

...

Gu Yan's robbery attempt failed, and he ended up emptying his pockets and giving the money to Wen Yao.

Wen Yao gave a soft snort and put it in her pocket with a clear conscience!

He dared to mess with her; he deserved it!

Wen Yao asked Steward Lu to retrieve the case files, and sure enough, she discovered new clues.

One page is missing.

"A total of five people visited the Imperial Study that day: the Grand Secretary, the General, the Imperial Physician, the Emperor's Consort, and the Head of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion. The murderer is among these five people..."

The Empress died three hours after being poisoned, so we need to find the person who had time to poison her...

However, the page in the dossier that records the time when everyone entered the Imperial Study is incomplete.

"Chief Steward Lu, you are in charge of all internal affairs; this is clearly a dereliction of duty."

Steward Lu wiped away his cold sweat and bowed slightly to Wen Yao:

“Miss Wen is indeed exceptionally intelligent, but this matter is of great importance. To know the contents of the missing page, we will probably need that person's permission…”

Before Wen Yao could ask any questions, she heard the palace maid NPC outside the door announce loudly:

"The auspicious hour is approaching, and the palace banquet is about to begin. Please, all of you worthy talents, proceed to the Chang Le Palace where His Majesty the Emperor resides!"

No matter what Wen Yao asked, Steward Lu stopped answering, only uttering one line:

"During the palace banquet, all other matters are suspended. Miss Wen, this way please—"

It seems that attending the palace banquet is an unavoidable step; I must go to the palace banquet first.

...

Changle Palace.

All the guests gathered here.

"All of you talented individuals have demonstrated remarkable abilities in the morning's tasks! His Majesty the Emperor is greatly pleased and has decided to award the one with the highest reputation here!"

The exchange rate between silver and reputation points was one to one. The palace maid quickly tallied the data for each guest and announced the results:

"Yunxing, reputation points: 31,000..."

"Lu Amber, reputation points: 38,000..."

"Lin Xinwei, reputation points: 39,000..."

The reputation scores of the first few guests were all roughly the same, until the palace maid announced Yunyue's score:

"Yunyue, reputation points: 87,000!"

When this data was released, everyone present gasped in shock.

Lu Anbo: "Sister Yue, are you cheating??"

Lin Xinwei: "Even the most dedicated hard worker is utterly useless in front of the luckiest person..."

Jiang Jinghuai: "I only have a little over 20,000, it makes me seem like I'm just there to make up the numbers..."

All the Yunyue fans are receiving good luck.

[Sister Pink Moon's Steady Happiness]

Good luck is coming! No side effects, no additives!

[I win every game that relies on luck effortlessly; it's so enviable!]

...

Just then, the palace maid announced Wen Yao's results:

"Wen Yao, reputation points: 116,000!"

There was no other way. In the early stages, Wen Yao received the most start-up capital due to her status, and she was constantly being fed. Gu Yan even gave her all his own money, which meant that she was using the resources of two or three people to compete with the resources of someone else.

Guest: ? ? ?

audience:? ? ?

For a moment, everyone was dumbfounded!

Is this number even real?!

Even the Emperor's consort looked surprised, unfolded his folding fan and waved it lightly twice:

“A strict teacher produces outstanding students. As expected of the daughter personally cultivated by the Grand Secretary, it is a blessing for the entire nation that our Great Yan has such a talented person! I will reward her handsomely!”

Palace maid: "Wen Yao is a virtuous and talented woman, and is rewarded with 30,000 reputation points!"

The more advantageous a person is, the bigger they will become, like a snowball rolling downhill.

When it was Gu Yan's turn, the palace maid announced his meager reputation points of two thousand, and the whole room burst into laughter.

"The winner of the morning session is Wen Yao, the eldest daughter of the Wen family!"

The various NPCs reacted differently; some flattered, some sneered, and some made sarcastic remarks.

"Miss Wen is truly a favored daughter of heaven!"

"To win by such despicable means is truly an unfair victory!"

"They were born into a good family; we are all ashamed of ourselves!"

"..."

The palace banquet is over.

Wen Yao was about to continue searching for Steward Lu when Jiang Jinghuai stopped her.

"Sister, let's form an alliance."

Wen Yao raised an eyebrow: "Give me a reason why I must form an alliance with you."

"My identity is that of a disciple of the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, and I have more complete clues than other players. If you ally with me, you will complete your main quest much faster."

"make a deal."

Jiang Jinghuai presented the clues he had collected.

Just as he said, his clues were clearer than those collected by Wen Yao.

[1. The Empress had a habit of consuming Five-Stone Powder.]

2. The Empress secretly gave birth to a daughter.

[3. The order in which the guests appeared in the Imperial Study on the day the Empress died of poisoning is as follows.]

We've found a crucial clue!

After comparing the records in the case file, Wen Yao finally identified two suspects!

Grand Secretary, Imperial Consort!

Both of them arrived at the Imperial Study before the Empress was poisoned.

Wen Yao hesitated. The Grand Secretary said he was innocent. Could he be the Emperor's consort?

The Empress's throne will definitely be passed on to her daughter in the future.

If the Emperor's husband harbors any ulterior motives, then he is indeed the prime suspect.

"Wait a minute..." Wen Yao suddenly remembered the item Joshua had just taken, "Can the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion buy any kind of information? Can it be related to the Western Regions?"

Jiang Jinghuai was stunned: "That's possible... but hasn't the suspect already been identified?"

"Wrong!" Wen Yao said firmly, "The timeline was deliberately thrown out to mislead us!"